


Through the Years

by avienexjel



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Other, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-07
Updated: 2015-07-07
Packaged: 2018-04-08 01:33:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4285605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avienexjel/pseuds/avienexjel





	Through the Years

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an AU where there are no superheroes and villains beside Man itself, the Avengers grow up together along with Loki. We follow them from kindergarten until they are adults, through tremulous and often frightening times and romantic ones as they begin to develop more than just silly schoolboy/schoolgirl crushes. We'll watch how they each were when they were still young, or unaware, or innocent still. We'll see how Loki and Thor used to be the best of friends, until they drifted apart, and how Tony was nice and kind and sweet on the OUTSIDE, not just on the inside. And how Natasha and Clint slowly formed their relationship, how Steve realized he was gay, and how Bruce opened up, gradually but still.

CHAPTER 1. 

**Tony** **( I )**

"Be a good boy today for me, Anthony," Maria Stark says lovingly as she smooths down her son's head of curls, unruly as it always is.  She brushes the teeth of the ebony comb in her hand through Anthony's hair to tame it, although she won't be surprised later if he comes home with a head as wild as the jungle. 

"Sì, Mama," Anthony says, nodding obediently.  He turns around to beam at Maria.

"Shhh, no, you must speak in English or Daddy will get mad," Maria says gently.  "You don't want Daddy to get mad, do you?" 

"No, Mama," Anthony says, not only because he knows that this is the answer Maria wants but because he hates it, absolutely  _hates_ it when Daddy's mad.  Daddy throws stuff and screams a lot when he's angry, and also uses his hands; and Anthony thinks that he might have even made Mama cry a few times.  That's how he knows she's hurt, no matter emotionally or physically because hurt is always the same--it brings you pain--even though he can always hear Daddy apologizing when he tiptoes to the bathroom and puts his ear up against the wall.  After Daddy apologizes they make funny noises, Mommy and Daddy, and the walls kind of tremble a little.  There's also a lot of squeaking, lots and lots and lots.  

Anthony loves his daddy though.  He knows that Howard only hits him because he needs to teach him a lesson, to dissi--disisplin--discipline him.  Anthony still needs to work on spelling, but that's what kindergarten's for.  His mama reassures him a lot that he's way ahead of his age, anyway, so he's satisfied with that.  Plus, Daddy doesn't hit that much.  Usually, he just leaves Anthony alone, which Anthony's okay with, kind of.  Sometimes he wonders if it would be fun or nice to have Howard smile down at him or hug him, like Maria does.  He loves Mommy too, maybe even more than Daddy.  He'll never tell Daddy that, though, because he doesn't want to hurt his feelings.  

"Good, Anthony," Maria says, finally withdrawing the comb from her child's hair.  "Behave at school for me, okay?"

"S--yes, Mama," Anthony says back, almost forgetting to speak English instead of Italian.  "Is...is Daddy going to say good-bye too?" he adds after a brief moment's hesitation.

"Daddy's busy right now," Maria says quickly, her smile slipping off her face.  Then it pops back up just as quickly as it disappeared as she smiles indulgently down at her son and tucks the comb into her purse.  "Off you go now; Jarvis is waiting to take you to school," she says, pushing him gently away.  "I can't have you around when I'm putting on my makeup.  I have to make myself look perfect.  Do you understand that, Anthony?"

Anthony nods that  _yes, he does understand_ ; and besides, he doesn't want to do anything wrong.  As he runs off--but then walks because of Maria: "No running in the house, Anthony!"--he feels butterflies in his stomach, and he's super, super nervous but also really excited to finally meet other kids.  Of course, he  _has_ interacted with other children before, like Justin Hammer, the son of one of Daddy's friends, but Justin is a stupid jerk.  There.  He's admitted it, even though Mommy looks at him with disapproval if he uses the word 'jerk' or 'stupid'.  She says that only adults can use those words and they're bad, anyway.  Anthony secretly wonders why, just because of an age difference, adults can use words deemed " _bad"._ Isn't bad always _b_ _ad_ regardless?  Adults are confusing, even super smart ones like Mommy. 

"Master Anthony!"

"Coming, Jarvis!" Anthony hollers, louder than he means to and also louder than necessary.   _Oops._ No yelling allowed for children.  Howard does it all the time, but, as Mommy says: "Only adults can."

He skids into the kitchen where his backpack hangs off of a chair and quickly grabs it, slinging it over his shoulder.  Anthony rushes, breathless, down the hallway.  Mama's not there to see him run, anyways.  

"Sorry, Jarvis," he mumbles apologetically as he reaches the front door, where the Starks' butler stands.  

"Sorry for what, young master?" Jarvis says in that kindly tone of his.

"For making you wait," Anthony bursts out, clutching the straps of his backpack as he tries to regain his breath.  "Sorry," he repeats.

Jarvis just ruffles his hair fondly, and Anthony grins and lets him do that.  He doesn't like to make Mommy upset, but the neat hair and the gel that keeps it in place makes his scalp feel gluey and cold and  _slimy._

"There is nothing to be sorry for, Master Anthony," Jarvis reassures him as the Brit opens the door.  "Out you go now."

"Which car?" Anthony says as he steps onto the cold stone path cutting through the lawn.

 

"What's your name?" the teacher asks, peering at Anthony through her thin, rectangular glasses.  She only gives the child standing in front of her a once-over, not bothering to study him more.  She doesn't like children anyway.

Anthony takes a deep breath.  "A--," he starts, but then stops.  The whole class waits, looking at him expectantly, as he's the last one to introduce himself.

Well, he doesn't like the name Anthony much anyway.

"Tony," he says, giving a shy little grin.  "Tony Stark." 

And from that moment on, Anthony Edward Stark becomes Tony; no more, no less.

 

The tables are assigned seating arrangements so Anthony--no, _To_ _ny_ now--is grouped with a boy named Steven, who says that Tony can call him Steve and also that he used to have cancer but the doctors saved him in time, so now he's healthy.  There's also Clinton--"you can call me Clint"--who at first seems really serious but when Tony watches him, he's also funny and super silly with his older brother, Barney.  Barney stays until the last warning bell rings and then tells Clint he has to go to his own class now because he doesn't want detention; and Clint nods, scooting a little bit closer to the person next to him, a redhead named Natalia.  Natalia--although she threatens to kill anybody who calls her that--is pretty, very, very pretty, with a head full of beautiful, fiery locks.  She says to everyone at the table that they all must call her Natasha.  When Tony asks why, she glares at him. 

Then there's Bruce, who has thick brown hair that's even curlier than Tony's.  He doesn't say much, which Tony's a little confused about at first--how can someone not want to talk?   _He_ loves to, at least--but he also finds himself liking Bruce most of all.  For some reason, Tony finds a likeable quality about the quiet boy.  Too bad he's not sitting next to him; instead Tony's sitting next to Steve, who seems okay nice but a little bit bossy, which Tony doesn't like.  He's smarter anyway; Steve should be listening to  _him._ There's also an incredibly pale boy with green eyes that remind Tony of twinkling emeralds, and he has a thick accent and longish black hair slicked back.  He's Loki.

Later on, Tony finally remembers the last boy's name.   _Thor._ He's Loki's brother, and they're complete opposites--well, at least, in looks.  His skin, although light, is still way darker than Loki's, and he has golden hair and blue eyes.  Loki and Thor have the same thick accents.  

Thor whispers to Tony from across the table that Loki's actually adopted when Tony asks Thor quietly why they look so different, but then adds that Loki doesn't like to talk about it so Tony shouldn't bring it up.  Well, he doesn't want to hurt anybody's feelings on the first day anyway besides Justin Hammer's--thank god that  _jerk_ (Tony feels incredibly pleased, more than he should, at using such a bad word) isn't sitting at  _his_ table--so he nods and doesn't.  He never does.

 

They don't really talk much, Tony and Clint and Natasha and all the other boys, and they mainly just ignore each other.  Clint exchanges a few words with Natasha, but that's about it.  And of course, Loki and Thor sit huddled in a little pair, but they're siblings.  The day goes by in a blur--the teacher simply hands out a bunch of worksheets and they're expected to fill them all out: _What is your favorite color?  Do you like sports?  If so, what kind(s) of sport(s)?  Draw a picture of you and your family right here._

Overall, it's boring.  And they don't even talk to each other during lunch, even though Thor smiles at them for a second before going back to his conversation with his brother.  And, well, Steve...Steve talked a little bit during lunch about his ma, but no one was really listening.  He's a goody-goody anyway, because when Tony looks up, he's hard at work on the worksheets.  As for Tony, he's just doodling little designs in margins, wondering how to build an engine.  

Finally, Tony can't take it anymore.  He loves to talk, but he's not sure if  _these_ kids in particular will want to hear what he has to say.  They might be like Daddy, angry or annoyed.  Or they might ignore him completely.  But...he guesses that it's better than nothing.  After all, everyone he meets at Daddy's expos and galas say he's really charming and they all love him.

"Do any of you like science?" Tony asks into the quietness.  "I love engineering."  He looks around the table, and catches sight of Bruce, who opens his mouth, shuts it, then opens it again.

"Ilikescience," Bruce mumbles nervously.

"Engineering?" Tony asks, a little happier now that he knows someone else who likes what he does.

"Physical science," Bruce says, fidgeting a little.  "Like...li-like, chemi-chemistry and physics."

"Me too; I love physical science  _and_ engineering," Tony says, grinning at the brown-haired boy to reassure him.  He usually doesn't like to brag; his Daddy says he's worthless and doesn't have anything to brag about anyway, but he puffs up his chest and blurts to Bruce before he can put his head back down again: "I made a circuit board last year."

 _"Really?"_ Bruce's eyes nearly pop out of his skull.  "A-Are you six o-or, um, five?"

"Five, aaand"--Tony pauses momentarily to calculate--"and a third," he finishes proudly.  "So I made the circuit board when I was four.  It works but it doesn't really look the best."

 _"WOW,"_ Bruce says, gaping at Tony in utter amazement.  Tony smiles at Bruce from diagonally across the table.

"What's chemistry?" Steve pipes up,  _finally_ lifting his head.  Blonde hair fall across his forehead in a cut that looks neat but a little bit uneven.

Bruce and Tony lock eyes.  Tony pushes down the urge to laugh; he doesn't want to make Steve feel bad, anyways.  "Chemistry is a branch of science," he offers, but Steve just asks in return: "But what exactly  _is_ it?"

Bruce mumbles quietly, not meeting Steve's or Tony's eyes: "Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the idenfication-identification of the substances that matter is made out of."

"Nice job, Brucie," Tony says, laughing a little.  Bruce just looks up and shrugs his shoulders.

"Thanks, Tony," he replies quietly back.

"What's sub--subance--sussance?" Steve asks.

"It's a type of matter with...with...oh yeah,  _uniform_ properties," Tony says, pleased to have gotten the word right.  His chest sticks out a little again.  

"What's uniform?" Steve asks, confused, and Tony just looks at Steve and says: "Okay...nevermind."

 

_-_

 

"How was school, young master Anthony?" Jarvis asks.

"Well, I'm Tony now," Tony says, looking up at the tall, weathered Brit.

"Ah, I see," Jarvis says, giving a gentle smile.  "Young master Tony."

"It was great, though, even though at first we didn't really talk.  There's a cool boy there; his name is Bruce.  He likes science just like I do!" Tony tells his butler happily.

"That sounds wonderful," Jarvis says, patting Tony on his head.  "I'm glad you enjoyed today, young master Tony."

 

In the end, Jarvis forgets by dinnertime and calls Tony 'Anthony' again, but Tony doesn't mind.  It's okay because then Anthony can just be a special name that only the best people can call him, like his Daddy even though he's sometimes mean, and his Mama even though she sometimes pushes him away; and Jarvis, whom he loves completely because he's always there when no one else is.  


End file.
